Dusty Rhodes Is a Major Talking Point in the Cody Rhodes–Roman Reigns Feud

After winning the men's Royal Rumble match at the 2023 Royal Rumble, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes officially challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39. Since then, the two have been butting heads and getting very personal during their in-ring promos.

When it comes to the Tribal Chief and the Bloodline, they never shy away from bringing up the late great Dusty Rhodes. Roman stated that every time he spoke with "The American Dream," he never mentioned Cody. Roman's "special counsel" Paul Heyman also boldly declared that the Head of the Table was the son Dusty always wanted.

Is that true? Better yet, is Cody Rhodes actually related to Dusty Rhodes? Keep reading to find out.

Unless you live under a rock, chances are you know that Cody Rhodes is, in fact, related to the highly successful professional wrestler known as Dusty Rhodes. The 37-year-old athlete is the youngest child of the late WWE Hall of Famer.

During the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer revealed that the Wrestlemania 39 storyline — in which Roman essentially claims Dusty never cared about Cody — is "the farthest thing from the truth."

"When Dusty was working, and Cody was on the main roster ... if Cody lost a match on [Monday Night] Raw, Dusty would be in a bad mood the entire week. If Cody won, he'd be in a good mood the entire week," the journalist said, adding that Dusty's "mood was determined by how Cody was being booked that week."

Dave continued, "Dusty was so into Cody. Cody told me that he thought Dusty would have been very unhappy with him for leaving WWE, though, and Cody was very skeptical of AEW at first because Dusty always warned him about the idea of a 'rich guy starting a wrestling company.'"

Now, with "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes battling it out for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in one of the biggest blockbusters in Wrestlemania history, we know Dusty is rooting for his son every step of the way.